A Christmas Carol (1910)

Based on the story by Charles Dickens: Ebenezer Scrooge is well known for his harsh, miserly ways, until he is visited by the ghost of his former business partner, and then by three other spirits.

Directors:

J. Searle Dawley (uncredited), Charles Kent (uncredited)

Writer:

Charles Dickens (short story)

Stars:

Marc McDermott, Charles Ogle, William Bechtel

Cast

Cast overview:
Marc McDermott	...	Scrooge
Charles Ogle	...	Bob Cratchit
William Bechtel
Viola Dana
Carey Lee
Shirley Mason

Storyline

The story begins in the office of Scrooge, described as "a wrenching, squeezing, grasping, covetous old sinner." He is visited by the charity workers who want him to contribute to the Christmas funds for the poor. He shows them the door and then declines an invitation from his nephew and the latter's Christmas wishes, because the spirit of Christmas is not with him. After finishing his Christmas Eve's work by scolding his poor humble clerk, Bob Cratchit, he hies him home. At the door we see the knocker change visibly before his eyes to the face of his former partner, Marley, long since dead, and during the night he is visited by Marley who introduces him anew to the long forgotten Spirit of Christmas. The Spirit shows him in successive visions his happy childhood days when he was young and free, the breaking of his engagement to the woman who later marries happily, and then shifting to the present Christmas, shows him Bob Cratchit's humble family enjoying their Christmas dinner, which...

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Plot Keywords:

christmas in title | holiday in title | christmas movie | christmas season | based on novella | 

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Genres:

Short | Drama | Fantasy

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Worldview Entertainment and the Killiam Collection has released a set of nine early movies about Christmas collectively called "A Christmas Past," with an original score by Al Kryszak. This movie is the eighth one, and has a running time of 11 minutes.

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Goofs

During the visit of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, Ebenezer Scrooge's name is misspelled as "Ebeneezer" on his gravestone.

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Quotes

Title Card: The ghost of Marley, who was like unto Scrooge, warns him of his punishment hereafter unless he becomes a different man.

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Connections

Version of A Christmas Carol (1997)

User Reviews

Sort of like the Movie Channel Bunnies version of "A Christmas Carol"

For a film from 1910 (or 1907--I found 2 different dates for it), this is an exceptional film, though by today's standards it's pretty poor. Compared to the average Edison production, this one had much nicer sets and costumes and the short length of the film wouldn't have been seen as a problem--all films were rather short in this era. Of course, compared to later versions, this one also comes up wanting in many ways--but for its time it was dandy. As for the problems, you really need to know the story well to follow this version. I assumed audiences of the day must have been well-versed with it but again and again, things happened but because the film was so truncated you only understood it if you knew the story. Also, like most versions of the story, the poverty and responsibility to the poor were aspects of the film that weren't emphasized enough--and this was THE reason Dickens wrote the story--not just to give us a nice Christmas story.

Still, for 1907/1910, this is a well made and watchable little gem that should make fans of early silents happy.

By the way, if you wonder why I mentioned the Movie Channel's Bunnies, they are cartoons where an entire film is condensed into 30 minutes. This condensed format reminded me a lot of this version of A Christmas CAROL since it's so very short.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

None English

Release Date:

23 December 1910 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Christmas Carol

Company Credits

Production Co:

Edison Manufacturing Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

11 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1